Lately Mae and I have been racking our brains for a nice name for Baby. And believe me, the burden of naming a child is incredibly daunting. What if we choose a sucky name and our poor kid gets teased all his life? As Chinese, our troubles are doubled since we want a nice Chinese name to go with a nice English name. And as far as Chinese names go, while they mean beautiful things in the language, a lot of times they sound like something really horrendous in English or Malay.
Kids named Chee Wai always get teased. Similarly, so do Yee Ting and Wai Ping, because after Yee Ting, you should always be Wai Ping... your mouth. If you subscribe to the notion that, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!" try telling that to little Kah Yew. And if you think Ai Ting is bad, wait till you meet Ai Pee! Some Chinese surnames add more misery to the lives of these kids like Wan Kok Keat and Pee Onn Joo. And surely you've heard of the two shops in Johor, Ooi Kian Fatt and it's competitor, Soh Kean Wee! I guess the older generation parents just never thought things through, seeing as to how many tragic names came from those times.
There are probably some rules we should remember when it comes to Chinese surnames. Here are a few that comes to mind. If your surname is Loo, the next name should never be Bang or King. If it's Chew, then no Weng. Phang must never go with Sai or Pui. And Tham should never be followed by Bee or you'll sound more Indian than Chinese. The next dilemma comes if you decide on an English name before your surname. My auntie knows a Harry Kok, though I'm sure she's seen more than one. Heh! And then, there was this family friend who named his daughter Diana Saw - which is surely a classic, if not Jurassic!
So you see our worry? What if we overlook something and give Baby a name that results in a lifetime of teasing? Anyway, we're open to suggestions. We like a little English name for our kid - maybe Aidan, Brandon, Dylan, Julian or something nice. My surname is Tan, so names like Rambo and Sy are definitely out!
james....i would recomend phoenix pearl but ur baby is a boy..lol...i dont think i care for english name since my baby have to be pure chinese..
ReplyDeletemay i suggest seng keat
ReplyDeleteor maybe.... Tiang Lam Pu
ReplyDeleteAnd Tong Sam Pah :D
LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion is to choose both English & Chinese names that have a significant meaning (whilst bearing in mind what the entire combo's gonna sound like). Then later you can tell your son why you gave him that name and he will treasure the thought behind it. My parents named me 'peace' ('ping') and when I was 15 I chose the name Irene because it's Greek for 'peace', and because it also happened to go well with my surname.
ReplyDeleteAlso remember: in Chinese, the same words sometimes sound very different in the various dialects. You don't need to follow the Mandarin pronounciation. So you may still be able to get the meaning you want, but a more palatable sound when spelt out in the Roman alphabet. Play around with the words lah :)
Too bad she's not a girl. Then you can add a "Wen" in it. Then you can call her "Ah Wen" which would make any LOTR fan smile...or not.
ReplyDeleteI do like the names Dylan and Ryan. Unfortunately, out of the choices, most people voted for Ian (for my hrrrm, new-born nephew - yep, there was a voting session!). Chinese names? Just let the elder ones rack their brains out for it. ;)
ReplyDeleteKah Yew and Rambo Tan
ReplyDeleteROFL! even punjabi names have the same problem as with chinese names. Karpal Singh, Jaswant Singh.. :P no matter what the language is, no matter what your name might be, some smarto kid will find a way to spoit it.
me?..nutty, nuts and bolts, nata de coco. haih
I'm pure chinese too, phoenix, but my dad named me James for a good reason: He didn't want me to grow up and pick a silly name for myself, like Rocky or Rambo! :lol:
ReplyDeleteWhy Seng Keat, pickyin? What does it mean?
Hahaha!!!! Suresh, you forgot Koay Koh Chee and Teh Li Foon! :lol:
Hey minishorts, you came here for a laugh and didn't leave a suggestion? :lol:
Edrei, if I gave my kid a sissy name, it won't the first in my family! ;)
Good suggestion, Strizzt. Perhaps the old folks will be better with the Chinese names.
I was one of those mean little kids with plenty of nickname ideas, Nutella... oops... I mean natasha! Hehheh :)
how about adrian?
ReplyDeletedont know it's a girl or boy name. Got it from a song :) But i think it blends with Tan.
Nway, greetings from me- a new friend!
James: Seng Keat means Virtue in Chinese, and goes well with your surname. Also beware not to choose a meaningful Chinese name for the boy but it ends up so difficult to pronounce.
ReplyDeletei'd go for Ryan or Aidan :)
ReplyDeletemy chinese name was decided before I was born. well, part of it anyway. all daughters of sons in the Tan family would have SNOW theme i.e. Sheh and the sons of sons to have THEAN. you can check out the obituary i posted up and see there. only children from the daughters side are exempted in the event that their fathers' family also had a similar rule.
ReplyDeletenow, having said that, my name is equally long. for some reason or another, everyone thinks michelle is so sexy. adoh!
Hey James!
ReplyDeleteIt's been too long I've forgotten your ENTIRE chinese names.. Gina, what is it ah! I think we had a good laugh about it once before (wait, it was more than once!)
Well, I think Alan Chan Ah Tong was quite a successful name, for a street near my house!
So.. why not for your son?
:P
I like Wena's name... Rowena is sooooo romantic ;)
ReplyDeletemy mom is Tan also and she gift me very beautifull chinese name on my birth cert....yet there are ppl who said my name is very ah lian:((((((...hope u can find nice name for ur baby that he is happy to......
ReplyDeleteRyan is nice. There's a Malaysian sailor called Ryan Tan.
ReplyDeleteHi there, nurul. Thanks for the suggestion! Adrian is not a bad name, but Gina recently suggested that putting Baby at the top of the alphabetical order might not be such a good idea. Poor kid will be the first for everything - first in class to be vaccinated, first to get called up, first to enter exam hall... :lol:
ReplyDeleteYes, pickyin, I sometimes worry that people cannot pronounce Baby's name and it ends up sounding like something else!
Thank, gambit. Too bad Ryan is a good friend's kid!
I think Rowena sounds sexier than Michelle! ;)
So Shine, you really think I should name my son Alan Chan Ah Tong? Hahahahah!!! *piak*
I agree, irene!
I'll try my best, phoenix!
I like it too, Norzu, but too bad it's taken by a friend already!
Jason Tan Boon Keat ? ...
ReplyDeleteJuliana Tan
Christopher Tan
Catherine Tan Ai Ching ? :P
Timothy Tan
Selena Tan
Dorian Tan ( but make sure he don't keep spikey hairs )
Helena Tan
Keith Tan
Lina Tan
Hector Tan
Yasmeen Tan
William Tan ( please don't choose this ... William ??? )
Andrea Tan
Adrien Tan
you know.. I can really go on
dowan adrian tan. so dam common! eeee... aidan sounds nice. if u wan chinese name, mebbe can consult those ppl in temples to figure out a suitable one for yr kid. cos usually chinese names must match the time & date of birth (lunar calendar).
ReplyDeleteon the contrary james, putting your son's name on the top of an alphabetical list will prevent him from having to wait and line up longer in queues..
ReplyDeleteWaah, noor hidayat. You can start a service going lah! :) But Timothy??!? Timothy is so wussy! :lol:
ReplyDeleteOliviasy, the only reason we want a Chinese name for Baby is so that he never loses his place in the Tan clan and his identity as a Cinakui! :lol: We don't really believe in the time and date of birth thing. :)
Pros and cons, pickyin. I hear that was the reason why Dr. M named all his kids starting with the alphabet M - so that they're never too early or too late in a queue! :)
what about names from the bible? such as jonathan, joash or josiah? these are great names with equally great meanings.
ReplyDeleteSAMSON TAN!!!
We did contemplate names from the bible, Jack. But some of these sound a little over the top - like Nehemiah, or Jonah, Saul, Lot! :lol: Besides the good ones al always already taken by someone we know.
ReplyDelete[cont]
ReplyDeletei am only 21 and here i am givng advice to you, james. i do apologise for my audacity. but these are exciting times for you and i am excited for you. its great!!
i can't wait when its my time to go through the migraine inducing task of having to choose a name for my child. i like the name naomi, which means above all.
God bless!!
oh, oh, i know ... napoleon. napoleon tan.
yeah, you're absolutely right. some names, if not most, are really over the top. a bit too dramatic in our modern context. and the good ones are, well since there are good, they are very popular.
ReplyDeletethat IS unfortunate.
perhaps you could choose a name that reflects how God's merciful and loving hand has been actively involved in both your lives during this past few months, or even before the conceiving of baby. for instance:
matthew - God's gift
jonathan (again) - gift of God (means the same)
joshua - Jehovah saves
or what are your hopes and desires for baby:
josiah - fire of the Lord
david - beloved one (too common though)
isaac - laughing one
benjamin - son of my right hand
caleb - bold, faithful
you know, make it personal.
[cont]
hey.. what about Japanese names?
ReplyDeleteTakeshi Tan ?
Akira Tan ?
Aizawa Tan?
Himiko Tan?
Kusanagi Tan?
but Joshua sounds good. ^^;
Jack, we would have chosen Joshua but unfortunately my sis beat me to it. Her kid is Joshua. And thanks for being excited for us. As for your "audacity", remember, "Let no one look down on you because of your youth, but be a continuing example of love, faith and purity to believers". :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a Michiiko Tan and a Takakazu Tan in our family, noor hidayat. And one of them is half-Japanese! :)
wow. nice names!
ReplyDeletewish I had japanese name instead. *grin*
Shine,
ReplyDeleteIt`s NC Tan. Hahah. Will sms you on his chinese name. (I am working for Mae now so .. I have to watch what I say. Any minute, kena fire from husband instead.)
Kah Yew and Rambo Tan is not so bad. I have 2 friends who will live in agony with the names the parents gave them.
One is Kan Chee Boon, the other one is Mok Foo Kee. So... needless to say, they had a tough life with peers laughing at them. Luckily, they are A Ok. End up pretty well. Guess the names somehow, however inappropriate, brings them good fortune.
I remember my mom told me about those days, when times are hard, ppl named their kids, Ah Tu, Ah Kau, Ah Miao.. etc etc (animals' names) coz they want their children to be able to fend for themselves when they were young, and able to live from hand to mouth. There is this guy, named "Kik Chiak" - in Hokkien it means, "Poor", end up a tycoon, selling roasted pork back in my hometown.
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog through my cousin telling me about this on baby names and I just wanted to say that I'll probably be back from time to time. :o) Interesting stuff you have here -- and the food bits are useful too. ;D
My own blog is at LiveJournal and I can only take inspiration from the caliber of writing you have on yours.
Keep up the good work and all the best to you.